Pittsburgh Mayor Ed O'Connor and the Urban Redevelopment Authority announced a $600,000 strategic investment to renovate eight commercial façades along East Ohio Street as part of the city's Main & Main revitalization initiative.
The partnership includes $100,000 from the URA and $500,000 from East Ohio Capital LLC. The façade improvements are intended to attract new small businesses and strengthen existing ones in the corridor.
Matt Hicks, owner of East Ohio Capital, said his company has invested over $10 million in the East Ohio Street area since 2010 and is planning to open three additional restaurants and a bakery, with three more commercial spaces available for lease.
The URA has invested more than $1 million in financial assistance to small businesses along the corridor and a $7 million New Markets Tax Credit investment, according to URA Executive Director Susheela Nemani-Stanger. The URA funding for the new façade project comes through a partnership with the Henry L. Hillman Foundation. This is part of a broader initiative in which the city is renovating 77 façades across Pittsburgh.